Summer vacations !

I woke up this morning with a start - and heaved a sigh of relief that it was just a dream ....

It was the peak of summer, and the school had just shut down. There were the usual good-byes and hugs and kisses between all the friends at school - some were genuine and some were oh-do-I-have-to-do-it kinds. Thinking back, it is surprising how we as humans learn people management even at that tender age. We always knew what topics please a particular friend, what toys to trade or what gossip to exchange with who. The attempt right from the start of our lives is probably to build our own empire - an empire of friends :)

Well, coming back to the story that summer - I think we were in the sixth grade. That season, the days were filled with sweltering heat, the evenings were cool and the coal tar on the roads threatened to melt any moment. If you ever visited some of the areas in India in the peak months of April / May you will exactly identify what I mean and makes you want to gulp down a glass of cool H2O rightaway :)

We were a bunch of good friends that lived in this colony, all about the same age. And a typical summer holiday routine consisted of waking up as early as one could, and start your day by sitting out in the backyard under a tree sipping your glass of milk - well, I hadn't been introduced to the sinful pleasure of sipping coffee yet :). Watch the birds and squirrels go by, then once the clock struck nine, we would get dressed and run out to play in any of the homes. We were strictly not allowed to go out of the house to avoid the dangers of getting exposed to the unforgiving Sun. One of the moms would make something delicious for lunch, and the food vanished within minutes of being put on the plates. Then came the higlight of summer - the king of all fruits - the Mangoes !. Wow ! nothing can match the sweetness or the sheer pleasure of licking at the core or the nut of this huge juicy fruit !. It is definitely an art that yields infinite pleasure when put in action, and something that can equally frighten an onlooker, who can perceive it as the most uncivilized way of devouring the fruit. Believe me, no job yields a great-job-done feel and the heightened satisfaction one derives after you lick the nut clean, and all the flesh of the fruit is safely tucked away in your belly :)

The evenings were full of games ranging from running around a huge playground, hide and seek or just sitting around telling each other ghost stories.

We constantly traded comics with each other and had our set of fights on how we didn't take care of each other's books, or how we were treated unfairly in the barter system. That summer, amidst all of this vacation excitement and hoopla around my cousins visiting us, a new friend moving into the neighbourhood , I had completely forgotten that we were all given a few summer assignments that needed to be completed and turned in at the begin of the next school year. I realized all of this when I was asked to keep my school bag and uniform ready for the next day when the new school year began ! My horror reigned supreme when this realization dawned and I was thinking of a million ways and excuses I could use to tell my teachers why I didn't do what I needed to do....

Right at this point is when I woke up this morning and realized - phew ! that was a dream - thank God !

In reality this would have never happenend to me as my mom would be constantly on my case and I would be court marshalled in case of such a slip-up :) But, who knows - ?

The intricate details of my summer vacations are so vivid in my mind even today - probably because they were such happy times! Like I said above, every evening we would play till we almost dropped asleep and we did all kinds of scary things including when there were times when a few of us who wanted to show our expertise in the playground typically climbed a flag staff present in the playground and sat precariously perched at the top 40 feet high in the air ! I can only imagine my mom's horror if she had found me that way - I'am a mom too today, and my heart races every time my little one tries to jump off the 4 feet high sofa !

How times have changed ? I always wonder if life has suddenly become more precious in some way ? or is it that we have lost the charm and independence of life as we knew it fearless and to the fullest !. I miss those days and times when we didn't have the slightest care in the world, and the fear of the unknown ! Today we live lives that are so full of trepidations and fears that are imposed on us by the society that we live in or are at times self-created.

Where have those wonderful times gone ? Wish we had some magical wand to carry us all back in time ....where laughter rang out...true, honest...unadultrated..the birds chirped...and everyone around wore a smile that rose from their hearts !